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The chief Judge of the FCT, Hon. Justice I. U. Bello has signed into operation the Practice Direction on the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.

The purpose of this Practice Direction is to carry into effect and ensure compliance with the Overriding Objective of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 as expressed in section 1(1) of that Act, particularly in:

Ensuring efficiency and speed in the case management of criminal trials and dispensation of justice,

Protecting the interests and fundamental human rights of the defendant, victim, witnesses and society; particularly the right to fair hearing, and

Ensuring active participation of all parties to focus on matters that are genuinely in issue for trial thereby reducing delays and expense at trials.

The Practice Directions shall apply to all criminal trials in the Magistrates Courts, High Courts, Upper Area Courts and other courts that try criminal cases in the Federal Capital Territory.

In his remarks at the occasion which took place on the 25th day of April at the Ceremonial Court auditorium of the FCT High Court Headquarters Maitama, Hon. Justice I. U. Bello lauded the effort of the Hon. Justice H. Y. Baba led committee for the industry put in the actualization of this dream of the FCT High Court to be ahead in effective and efficient administration of justice.

At the occasion, the Chief Judge also received a donation of a complaint management template designed by J4A (DFID – “Justice for All” Project) for the FCT High Court. It provides information for court users on how to make complaints or feedbacks about the services of the court. The Hon. Chief Judge appreciated the gift and the donors for their thoughtfulness and partnership in effective justice delivery in the FCT.

Present at the occasion are the Attorney General of Bayelsa State and Prof. Yemi George, a member of the monitoring committee on the implementation of the Administration of Justice Act 2015, including the Judges and Magistrates of the FCT Judiciary.

The participants at the occasion were unanimous in their views that it was yet another giant and historic stride in the FCT Judiciary.

Pursuant to the provisions of order 47 rules 4(1) of the rules of this court, there will be an Easter break from Friday the 14th day of April 2017 – Friday the 21st day of April, 2017. The court will resume sitting on Monday, the 24th day of April, 2017.

The Execution unit shall not initiate or engage in any form
of communication with the Judgment Creditors, Judgment
Debtors or their Counsel.

Upon receipt of a writ of Execution duly signed by a High
Court Judge/Magistrate, the Execution Unit shall promptly
carry out the Execution unless same is recalled or formally
stayed by a Judge/Magistrate or Court of Appeal or
Supreme Court,

The Execution Unit shall not accept any application (for
stay of execution, inter-pleader summons etc) directly from
the Judgment Debtors/Applicants or their counsel. Any
such application shall, after being filed in the Litigation
Department, be forwarded to the court concerned by the
applicant’s counsel for determination. It is the outcome of
that decision that will be communicated to the Execution
Unit.

The Execution Unit is directly under the Head of
Department of Enforcement. Thus it is his responsibility to
see that due process is observed upon the receipt of a writ
of execution duly signed by a High court Judge or
Magistrate.

(a) However, all Motions on stay of execution or inter-
pleader Summons shall be received at the Chief
Registrar’s office by a desk officer who shall be an experienced lawyer. Upon the receipt of same shall through the Head of Department of Enforcement draw the attention of the Judge in question.

(b) The applicant’s lawyer shall furnish the desk officer
with the details of the cases; such as, the name of the
Judge and the court hearing the matter.

Every writ of Execution emanating from a judgment of
court or order for-stay of execution shall be communicated
by the registrar of that court to the Execution Unit. Same
shall be entered in a register known as REGISTER OF
PROCESS, stating the name of the court, the case
number, name of parties, date and time when received.

Mere filing of Notice of Appeal does not serve as stay of
execution

Where goods, chattels ~or other movable properties are
attached in furtherance of a writ of execution, the goods
so attached shall be disposed of upon the expiration of
five (5) working days following the day on which the goods
had been seized unless:

(a). The goods are of perishable nature or

(b). The person whose goods have been seized so
requests in writing; in which the five (5) days period shall
not apply.

9.(a) All goods, chattels or other movable properties
which are to be sold under execution shall be advertised
on the court’s public notice board at least five (5) working
days preceding the sale and all such sale shall be by public auction.

(b) Subject to the provisions of 9(a) above, all immovable
properties which are to be sold under execution shall be
advertised in at least one national newspaper.

10. Where there is an order of court directing the deposit
of monies in an account, such order shall be compiled with
by depositing such monies into the ENFORCEMENT
ACCOUNT.

11. In all cases, the Enforcement Unit shall transmit to the
court from which the judgment or order emanated, the fact
of its compliance in writing signed by the head of
Enforcement Department giving details of what was done
not later than five (5) days after such compliance.

12. Every file for sale of attached property must carry the
photograph and necessary documents or the description’
of the property in question.

13. The property for sale must be valued by a Valuer and
only be sold by a registered auctioneer. However, the
reserve price for any item for sale shall be determined by
the Chief Registrar.

14. The cost of execution shall also be determined by the
Head of Department of Enforcement and not by the
counsel

This is to inform the public and staff of the FCT High Court Abuja that the Court will as from Monday, 19th day of December, 2016 to 31st December, 2016 be on Christmas and New Year recess. The Court will resume sitting on Tuesday 3rd, January, 2017.